Orphan Receptor GPR55: A New Therapeutic Target for Atherosclerosis?
Since the role of GPR55 in adaptive B cell response regulation has not yet been reported in the context of atherosclerosis, Guillamat-Prats et al. have investigated how GPR55 in B cells affects atherosclerosis development. In this blog post, we highlight the main findings from this study, which was published this month in Nature Cardiovascular Research.
Mitochondrial Adaptations and Homeostasis: Student Research from the MHRC
The Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) is one of Canada's leading innovators in muscle physiology research. In this blog post, we finish our series of interviews with student researchers at the MHRC and learn more about their research objectives, findings, and goals.
Is DNA Vaccination the Future of Type 1 Diabetes Prevention and Management?
Given the fact that type 1 diabetes can vary considerably between individuals, a precision medicine-based therapeutic approach could revolutionize clinical care. Earlier this year, Postigo-Fernandez et al. evaluated a precision medicine approach to DNA vaccination in a mouse model of type 1 diabetes, which we review in this blog post.
Industry Insights with Crown Bioscience: In Vitro Technologies for Studying the Cancer-Immunity Cycle
In this episode of Industry Insights, Rajendra Kumari, PhD, and Gera Goverse, PhD, from Crown Bioscience answer questions about in vivo, in vitro, and ex vivo technologies and methods that can be used for immuno-oncology research along each step of the cancer-immunity cycle.
Sugar, Spice, and a Troubling Vice: Cardiovascular and Cancer Risk with Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial sweeteners appear to be the perfect solution to many of the health problems associated with high sugar consumption, but two recent publications may change the public's opinion on these sugar substitutes.
Industry Insights with Chris Rand from Aurora Scientific
This episode of Share Science features Chris Rand, MSc, sales and marketing manager at Aurora Scientific. In this interview, Chris shares Aurora Scientific’s history, their journey within the preclinical research world, and their advance into the neuroscience space.
Mitochondrial Contributions to Muscle Weakness: Student Research from the MHRC
The Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) is one of Canada's leading innovators in muscle physiology research. In this blog post, we continue our series of interviews with student researchers at the MHRC and learn more about their research objectives, findings, and goals.
Industry Insights with Amy Sheng on Nanobodies
This episode of Share Science features Amy Sheng from Sino Biological, who shares how nanobodies are expected to revolutionize antibody-based drug therapies for a wide range of pathological conditions and especially cancer immunotherapy!
Clearing the Brain Fog: Long COVID and Cognitive Impairment
One common post-COVID symptom is brain fog or "COVID fog," which may affect up to 25% of recovered individuals. Given the global prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 and the detrimental impact of such cognitive impairment, the public health implications are considerable. Fernández-Castañeda et al. recently examined the underlying neurological changes associated with COVID fog, which we review in this blog post.
Fright or Delight? Dopamine-Mediated Fear Response in the Amygdala
Since little is known about how dopamine affects aversive learning in humans, Frick et al. recently sought to describe the role of dopamine in fear memory formation within the human amygdala, which we review in this blog post.
The Future of Muscle Physiology: Student Research at the MHRC
The Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) is home to many researchers who push the boundaries of muscle physiology. In this blog post, we summarize an interview with three students from the Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) at York University.
Industry Insights with Trent Lund on the ANY-maze Operant Interface
This episode of Share Science features Trent Lund from Stoelting Co., who shares some of Stoelting's latest developments such as the deceptively simple and surprisingly powerful ANY-maze, a behavioral tracking software!
Talking Real Science with Brent Sinclair
This episode of Share Science features Brent Sinclair, PhD, a biology professor at Western University who researches insect thermal biology and organizes career events for graduate students. In this interview, Brent shares why these opportunities are so important for students as they get close to finishing their degrees, as well as his career path and passions in and out of the lab.
Protocol Preview: Creating an Artificial Human Thymus in Mice
The majority of treatments for immunodeficiencies are temporary fixes, in part due to a lack of preclinical models that can accurately predict immune responses in humans. However, a novel model recently published in Nature Methods has potential to greatly improve future immune response studies, which we review in this blog post.
Investigating Muscle Weakness and Fatigue with the MHRC
The Muscle Health Research Centre (MHRC) is home to many researchers who push the boundaries of muscle physiology. For this blog, we summarize interviews with two professors from the MHRC who investigate the mechanisms of muscle weakness and fatigue: Christopher Perry and Arthur Cheng.
Talking Real Science with Chris Perry
This episode of Share Science features Christopher Perry, PhD, an associate professor at York University’s School of Kinesiology & Health Science, who shares his career path, but also his ideas and goals of creating a contract research organization (CRO) to further help those with muscle disease and to provide more opportunities for his trainees.
The Cancer-Immunity Cycle: Research Solutions for Preclinical Immuno-Oncology
Cancer immunotherapy has undoubtedly expanded the cancer treatment landscape and improved patient outlook, which can in part be attributed to the recognition of the importance of the cancer-immunity cycle as a whole. In this blog, we provide an overview of the cancer-immunity cycle and highlight some preclinical models that can facilitate cancer immunotherapy research.
Passive Avoidance Response in Rats: Effects of Handling and Novel Object Recognition
Storing aversive memories is important to survival, but learned avoidance responses decrease over time without reinforcement. Since little is known about the mechanisms behind this process, Bengoetxea de Tena et al. evaluated how naive rats respond to a learning and memory task under fear conditions in a recently published study, which we review in this blog post.
Video Game Therapy: A “Game Changer” for Post-COVID Brain Fog
Originally posted on Scientist.com, this article takes a look at post-COVID brain fog, its causes, and video game therapy as a potential treatment.
Talking Real Science with Tim Hacker
This episode of Share Science features Tim Hacker, PhD, director of the Cardiovascular Physiology and Surgery core facility at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Tim shares his career path and insights for young scientists on what it's like to run a core lab at an academic institution.
Long-Term Cardiovascular Symptoms of Mild COVID-19
Although the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has been ongoing for more than two years, a clear understanding of the symptoms of long COVID remains elusive. In this blog post, we review a recent study published in Nature Medicine that investigated cardiovascular symptoms in individuals with prior mild SARS-CoV-2 infections.
Skin-on-Chip for Preclinical Herpes Disease Modeling
Organs-on-a-chip are attractive alternatives for bridging the translational gap between preclinical and clinical stages in vaccine development, particularly for herpes simplex virus (HSV). In this blog post, we review an article from Nature Communications on a skin-on-chip device for modeling HSV infection, as well as evaluating immune responses and antiviral drug efficacy (featured image © 2022 Sun et al., licensed under CC BY 4.0).
USDA Under Fire for Relaxing Animal Welfare Inspection Standards
Originally posted on Scientist.com, this article references a lawsuit filed by the Harvard Law School Animal Law and Policy Clinic against the United States Department of Agriculture for failing to conduct full annual inspections and highlights the need for an independent, transparent assessment program.
Biomarker Imaging for Preclinical Cancer Research
Cancer biomarkers that do not cross the translational gap to clinical practice can still further research and drug discovery. In this article, we review several techniques commonly used for cancer biomarker imaging at preclinical stages, as well as recent technological advances.
Talking Real Science with Gwen Randolph
This episode of Share Science features Gwen Randolph, PhD, a pathology and immunology professor at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis! Gwen shares some of her scientific passions, as well as personal experiences as a woman in science.
